


hoapili (best friend)

by boneswrites



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Eddie looks out for his human, Hurt Steve McGarrett, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Worried Danny "Danno" Williams, and Danny takes care of Steve, radiation poisoning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22901923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boneswrites/pseuds/boneswrites
Summary: Is it just me or did the writers completely forget about Steve’s radiation poisoning and never followed up on it and its side effects? It crossed my mind so I thought about writing this piece.Takes place during season ten, while Junior is still away. Danny is asleep in Junior’s room when he’s woken up by tapping on the door. It’s Eddie, who immediately heads to Steve’s room once Danny opens the door. Danny follows, and finds Steve in the bathroom, having an attack from the radiation poisoning.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 16
Kudos: 267





	hoapili (best friend)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick piece I wrote. I felt like filling in the gaps a little. I hope you enjoy and feedback is always greatly appreciated!

The house was quiet. Danny had gotten used to the quiet, living with Steve for a couple of months now and on-and-off over the past ten years, the quiet is peaceful. Before, in Jersey, the quiet was agonizing, uncomfortable and it’s one of the reasons Danny built the habit of sleeping with the TV on. But here, in Steve’s house, with Steve’s presence around, that habit slowly started fading away. And the waves crashing just outside the house, at the end of the garden, those waves used to drive Danny up the walls, but now, they’re welcomed. Soothing, even. And they lull him to sleep every night. 

He and Steve had called it a day after closing up the day’s case, opting to go home, order pizza and have a few beers while watching the game. Eddie was sat on the rug near their feet, content to be near his humans. Stifling a yawn, Steve had decided to head to bed, Danny agreeing.

That was a few hours ago. After a quick trip to the bathroom before sleeping, Danny had exchanged a few texts with Grace, checking up on her at the end of the day and making sure his babygirl was good. Once satisfied, Danny sent her a G _oodnight, monkey. Danno loves you._ text and switched off the lamp on the nightstand. He drifted off to sleep in no time. 

He’s woken up by tapping on the bedroom door. Confused, he rubs his eyes and checks the clock on the nightstand. 3:48 AM. The tapping increases, urging Danny to toss the covers aside and get up. He opens the door to find Eddie standing there, on high alert he could tell, and watches as the dog quickly dashes in the direction of Steve’s room, probably expecting Danny to follow him.

And Danny does, now wide awake and worry settling in the pit of his stomach. Once he reaches Steve’s bedroom, Eddie is standing inside, to the side and looks up at Danny when the detective enters the room. Danny quickly realizes that Steve isn’t in bed, his messy covers dangling off the side of the mattress, his phone left on the nightstand and the light isn’t even on, instead the light from the hallway pouring into the bedroom. He then notices the light coming from the bathroom and what sound like low groans. 

Danny’s worry increases, he moves to switch on the bedroom light and looks at Eddie.

“Stay, Eddie,” Danny tells Eddie.

Eddie lets out a small whine but obeys.

“Good boy,” Danny says, and walks up to the bathroom. “Steve?” 

No response. 

“Steve,” Danny tries again. “What’s going on?”

Again, no response. 

But this time, Danny hears shuffling inside the bathroom, and more groans. 

“Talk to me, Steve, say anything,” Danny pleads. 

When he gets no response for the third time, he makes up his mind.

“Steve, I’m coming in, okay?” Danny says, praying that Steve hadn’t locked the door behind him.

He lets out a sigh of relief when he door knob turns and the door opens. 

When he sees, however, makes him ten times more tense all over. 

Steve is sitting on his knees, his hands on the toilet bowl with his head hanging above it. His skin is pale with redness around his tired eyes and he’s heaving. 

“Steve…” Danny whispers, closing the distance between them. 

Before Steve can say anything or do anything, he’s throwing up more. His dinner had long been puked, now it’s just bile and it’s painful. 

“It’s okay,” Danny says, placing his hand on Steve’s back, between his shoulder blades and the taller man is emitting so much heat. His shirt is sweated through.

And then Steve shivers, another groan escaping his chapped lips. 

“You’re cold,” Danny states rather than asks. “Are you read to go back to bed?”

Steve shakes his head.

“Okay, hold on,” Danny gets up, quickly fetching a blanket from Steve’s closet and returning to his best friend’s side. He drapes it over Steve’s shoulders and hopes it helps warm him up a little. The situation isn’t ideal by far, but it will have to do. 

“I got you,” Danny reassures, wrapping the blanket around Steve and running his own hands up and down the brunet’s arms in efforts to help warm him up more. 

Steve sighs, leaning forward to rest his forehead on his sweaty arm.

“You must be exhausted.” 

“Yeah,” Steve wheezes out. “Feel like shit.” 

“You look like shit, too,” Danny says gently, hoping to lighten up the mood a little.

He succeeds. Steve huffs out his best attempt at a chuckle. 

“Don’t I know it,” the SEAL responds before coughing a few times. 

Some of the tension in Danny’s body melts away as he continues rubbing comforting circles on Steve’s back, the rock hard muscle underneath his touch standing out and Danny makes a mental note to help ease the built up tense there later when Steve has the energy to return to bed. 

They sit there, on the bathroom floor, for what seems like forever, until Danny’s knees start to scream at him. But he doesn’t dare to move, not until Steve is ready to get off the floor and to bed. Danny will stay there, right where he is, for as long as it takes for that to happen. 

Taking in a breath and shakily letting it out, Steve nods some minutes later. 

“Okay, let’s go,” he says.

“You sure?” Danny asks.

Steve nods, flushing the toilet one last time and with Danny’s help, gets to his feet. He stops by the sink, looking at himself in the mirror (he really does look like shit) and quickly splashes cool water on his face and brushes his teeth. 

On wobbly legs, and supporting most of his weight on Danny, they make it to the bed with no incidents or further injury. 

Steve sighs when he lowers himself onto the mattress, the softness beneath him a stark opposite to the cold floor he’s been sitting on for God knows how long. Danny makes sure the blanket is covering Steve and then places his palm on the commander’s forehead. 

“You’re running a fever,” Danny points out. “I think we should take you to the ER.” 

Steve quickly shakes his head, which he immediately regrets because of the unforgiving headache pounding in his skull. “No, it’s okay, it will pass. Besides, I’m way too tired to move an inch right now,” he pushes out.

Danny sighs, knowing there’s no point in arguing with stubborn Steve. “Fine, but in the morning if I can’t tell that you’re better, we’re going.”

“Deal,” Steve whispers.

“Hang on,” Danny pats Steve’s shoulder and moves to retrieve a bottle of Advil from the bathroom cabinet. “Here,” he hands Steve the medicine along with the water bottle standing on the floor. 

Steve gulps it down, and takes a few extra sips of water. “Thanks, Danno.” 

“Yeah, no worries.” 

“How did you…” Steve slowly turns his head to look at Danny through half-opened eyelids. 

“Eddie,” Danny points to the dog, who’s now sitting by the bedroom door. “He kept tapping on the door until I opened and he lead me here. He was worried.”

“Aw,” Steve turns to look at Eddie. “Come here, buddy,” he pats the bed.

Eddie wastes no time in standing up and trotting over to Steve, his tail wagging a little from side to side. He licks Steve’s hand, his way of asking if his human is okay.

“I’m okay, buddy,” Steve says, scratching between Eddie’s ears and ruffling his fur. “You did good. You’re my good boy.”

Steve turns back to Danny when he feels the bed dip next to him.

“Danny?”

“Yeah, if you think I’m leaving you to sleep alone tonight, you have another thing coming,” Danny replies as he gets comfortable, pulling up the blanket to his chest and staring at the ceiling above him. “Besides, we don’t know how long this attack will last. So I’m staying right here, where I can keep an eye on you.” 

“Okay,” Steve nods. 

Danny turns to face Steve and Steve is looking at him with so much sincerity and appreciation, it takes Danny’s breath away. Steve is beyond exhausted, and Danny knows those walls Steve built around himself lower when he’s in this state. Those walls always tend to lower around Danny, be it they’re sitting on Steve’s private beach or watching the game together, but this, now…those walls are pretty much non-existent. 

“Get some rest, Steve. You need it,” Danny says softly. 

Instead of replying, Steve lifts a heavy arm and gently squeezes Danny’s shoulder before retrieving his arm and settling down, closing his eyes. 

Satisfied that Steve is okay and he’s being looked after, Eddie walks around in a circle a couple of times before curling up by the foot of Steve’s bed. 

Danny doesn’t sleep right away. He stays awake for a while, after the pain creases on Steve’s forehead and expression fade to almost nothing, his expression now of almost-peace. Well, as much peace as someone in his position can be in, Danny supposes. 

He wants to reach out and run his thumb over Steve’s stubbly cheek in an act of comfort but he both doesn’t want to wake the SEAL up and he knows how vulnerable Steve is right now. The last thing Danny would do is take advantage of that, no matter how badly he wants to be asleep in Steve’s arms right now, against his chest. 

Instead, Danny settles for watching Steve sleep, the rise and fall of his chest with every breath he takes. Danny keeps up with the rhythm, hating that this is happening to his best friend. But Danny vows to be there with Steve every single step of the way.

And as for this thing between them, that they’ve both been jumping around for nearly a decade now, this cosmic connection between them, and Danny’s want and need to be close to Steve, in more ways than one. And deep down, Danny knows Steve feels the same way about him, too.

But that conversation is to be had later. When Steve is feeling better and when the butterflies in Danny’s stomach slow down from the dance they’ve been doing since he got into bed next to Steve. When Danny can come up with and speak coherent sentences and when Steve is up to having that conversation. 

Danny falls asleep a little while later, Steve’s face the last thing he sees before drifting off. 

*****  
The first thing Danny sees the next morning is the sunlight floating into the room through the curtains. The first thing he feels is an arm draped over his middle and a body close to his. 

Sometime during the night, Steve and Danny had gravitated towards each other. 

And those butterflies dancing in Danny’s stomach from the night before? Yeah, they were back. 


End file.
